The changing landscape of European liberty and security: the mid‐term report of the CHALLENGE project

Abstract

The article offers a critical assessment of the liberties of citizens and others living in the EU and the way in which they are affected by the proliferation of discourses about insecurity, and government and transnational agencies practices of reassurance, protection and coercion enacted in the name of the safety of citizen or their collective security, in which information about their identity is exchanged through new techniques of surveillance and control. It analyses first the apparent radicalisationisation of specific forms of transnational political violence and its effects on liberal policies. Next it assesses the threat assessments produced through technologies of risk management and the development of new technologies of surveillance. Third it describes the changing forms taken by the logic of suspicion and practices of exception and derogation, especially in relation to established understandings of the rule of law, to the multidimensional and continuous reframing of the enemy. It then discusses the impact of this on the rights and freedoms of citizens and foreigners, and finally it assesses the relation between the internal and external impact of illiberal practices, especially in the context of transatlantic relations but also of an increasingly interconnected world order, and the place of the EU in this world.

State Project Europe: The Transformation of the European Border Regime and the Production of Bare Life

“…Yet, what can be controlled is citizenship and legal presence (Anderson 2001:8). Borders therefore mark not only the boundaries of a territory, but also the boundaries of democracy and law (Bigo, Carrera, Guild, and Walker 2008:287), as illustrated by Hannah Arendt. They represent the practical negation of a world society.…”

“…136). Moreover, the means of control have not reduced the number of illegalized migrants, merely made them choose other more dangerous routes (Bigo et al. 2008:298).…”

“…The European Parliament is, for instance, completely left out of the ex ante and ex post process of Frontex’ joint operations (Carrera 2007:14). The latter is exemplary for various reasons: First of all, it is a new state apparatus that defies democratic control and judicial accountability (Bigo et al. 2008:303).…”

Child Refugees and National Boundaries

“…The distinction between citizen and immigrant was particularly visible at the border. In the 2010s, European border policies require a revision of this classical border concept (Bigo et al 2010). Boundaries have shifted: "the line differentiating members from non-members is relocated" (Zolberg and Long 1999, 9).…”

Public Good Theory and the ‘Added Value’ of the EU’s Counterterrorism Policy

“…However, it can also be seen as an illegitimate imposition of US counterterrorism policies on European citizens, which promotes investments in questionable and costly surveillance technologies (Bigo et al 2007). Conversely, EU also seeks to extend counterterrorism policies on various partners in its neighborhood, possibly at the detriment of economic and political modernization (Galli 2008).…”